This begins the promenade of fashion models, showing off the latest styles. There is a stage diagram and notes that “each model once on the right side of the auditorium and once on the left”… Designers are listed in the order that the models appear. Models show off the latest in clothing and accessories prepared […]

Here begins the programme of the 1924 St. Louis Fashion Pageant. It starts with the Overture, Scene 1., Woman Unadorned… “An unadorned feminine figure, alone in all its loveliness, stands on a revolving sphere, receiving the homage of the universe. Embassies from all nations approach, with offerings of raiment and jewels, and as she is appareled […]

This just proves that babes in swimsuits have long been used to advertise products for men. In this 1924 advertisement for neck ties, a photograph of a girl in a swimsuit is surrounded by illustrations of mens neckwear, for Frank & Meyer Neckwear Co., 1130 Washington Ave. The second advertisement is the Hirshfield Skirt Company […]

Here’s are 2 ads for furriers in St. Louis. On the first page, the model is wearing a decadent full length fur coat and cloche hat, looking every bit the upscale vision of the ideal 1920s girl. It’s for Leppert-Roos Fur Co at 809 Washington Ave. The second page has simply a photo of what looks […]

This is really interesting- a 1924 business to business advertisement for shop decor and displays. Pictured, was a background setting for window displays or interior, in polychrome colors on gold cloth. The Walter F. Zemitzsch Co at 1617 Washington Ave, St. Louis. The other advertisement is for Gibson Knitting Mills (at 1510-1512 Washington Ave) and […]

Four fashionable fall dresses, perfect for the season of 1924. Illustrated on models with fashionably bobbed hair, and one is wearing a cloche hat. It’s an advertisement for Carleton Dry Goods Company, at Washington Ave and Twelfth street. It looks like some condominiums are currently in that space now. The next page is a very […]

Such a fascinating glimpse into the history of ready to wear clothing in America (and St. Louis’s little known fashion history)! I love the art decor border of fashionable silhouettes, surrounding the introduction to the 1924 St. Louis Fashion Pageant. Thus begins the programme and schedule for the 1924 St. Louis Fashion Pageant of ready to […]

I love this sketch of a fashionable woman in a cloche hat, surrounded by a swirly art nouveau frame. It’s an advertisement for Gaier Mirror Hats, on 1221-1225 Washington Ave. in St. Louis MO. The next page is just a text advertisement for Lees Brothers Inc., at 1209 Washington Ave.

St. Louis advertisements for women’s dresses and hats from the August 1924 Fashion Pageant.

I like the illustration on the Gold Medal Hats advertisement, the best. The lady in a cloche hat and bobbed hair is draped with a shawl coming seductively off her shoulder, holding a feather fan. The birthmark on her cheek is in the shape of a heart.

This full color advertisement section of the 1924 St. Louis Fashion Pageant was delightful! There’s a full page ad for International Shoe Company with a lady wearing a green and yellow drop waist dress, a full 2 page spread for Rice-Stix, and finally a full page red and black advertisement for Garrison Wagner Printing Company.

These illustrated fashion advertisements from 1924 are so interesting! These ads seem primarily directed to retailers, rather than the consumer…. I’ve not peeked thru the pages further than I’ve scanned them, and I’ve not researched the Saint Louis Fashion Pageant yet, so maybe it was more of an industry thing like NYC Fashion Week?

Here’s the cover and first few pages of the August 1924 issue of the St. Louis Fashion Pageant, a local society and fashion magazine. This whole issue is filled with fashion illustrations and fashion photography from the mid-1920s…. flapper girls and cars! The roaring 20s were well underway, even in the slower paced midwest, and St. Louis was a major city.

I love these cute pictures of children and babies, from the 1930s! It looks like they turned one of the infants pictures into a post card, and I’ve scanned the front and back of it. I’m finished scanning this album… and not sure if I want to scan another Modern Priscilla issue, or the 1922 St. Louis Fashion Pageant magazine… Thoughts?

Thank you everyone who showed up for my first private vintage sale! It was SO fun to network and put faces to names and see old friends I’ll be getting more vintage clothes before Christmas and we already have plans for another special private sale for the day after Thanksgiving! If you missed this private […]

AlexEliza sent me progress pictures of this old ripped up dress that she was mending, and I’m getting excited. Doesn’t sometimes a piece of clothing have such character and energy, that eventhough it’s old and tattered, it still seems magical? Even after washing, I couldn’t get all the grease stains out, but it still won […]

Here are some album pictures from the 1930s… it’s a mix of family photos, children, and Catholic nuns. It looks like dress and hat styles varied, and the distinctive mark was the short waved hair and side part on the women. I think this family was pretty middle class, and since this was during the […]

Here are some family and children photos from around 1938 (according to the date on the pics)…. the cute white pressed collars and simple clothing! It’s interesting to see the women wearing cloche-like turbans, showing that the fashion changes from the 1920s fashions were more gradual than merely stopping in 1929 (atleast for everyone but […]

Here’s the last of the 1930s nun pictures… just two sheets! I think these may have been at the nunnery in Carondelet, or taken in the St. Louis area. One of the pictures looks like a first communion class photo, with the little girls all in white, and another is dated 1939. I’m kind of […]

I’m not a Catholic, so not 100% sure, but I believe these are pictures of children on their First Communion ceremony. The little girls are all in white dresses with cloaks, hats, and veils. The little boys walking in a line and wearing ruffled tops and knickers. There’s a Coca Cola sign in the background, […]